Welcome to the third installment of Super Mario Apocalypse. If you are yet unacquainted with this series, this is a story focused on the rise of the older Koopalings during the end of the world. That's not to say that other Mario characters don't make appearances as they will throughout the story, but the focus will remain on the Koopalings.
This story is in many ways a reflection of what is currently happening in reality (and may possibly happen in the future). This includes climate change, erratic weather, earthquakes, flooding and so forth. Just look up these phenomena on Youtube and see the wacky weather that's been happening all over the world. This story is my personal message in regards to that.
Before I start, there are a few sources that I would like to give credit to that also serve as my inspiration. These include ZetaTalk, Immanuel Velikovsky, Zecharia Sitchin, Erich von Daniken and a number of authors dedicated to esoteric study. Separating the wheat from the chaff, or the truth from the lies, one arrives at a stranger picture of reality than one would imagine. Again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story.
A heavy bulldozer pushed a pile of rubble across the road, clearing the way for vehicles to continue forward along its perpendicular. Behind it was a line of them that pushed themselves across the apocalyptic landscape, buildings damaged and abandoned, unpowered and dark from the disasters it had brunted. In their shadows were a few people who watched on, unable to gather themselves to the reality before them. Walking alongside the vehicles were the somewhat more stable minded, though in truth their hearts were still in shock as to all that happened thus far. The Koopa Kingdom as they knew it had been all but destroyed, from the battles with the UmNaru to the upheavals caused by the monster that lay above the skies. In truth, they didn't want to believe the horrific truth the kings had given them, wanting the easy way out: living their old lives. But their logic tore their hearts, with the reality clear before them: The Great Destroyer of legend had returned, and a pole shift was once again imminent. Down trodden and absorbed in themselves, most walked with hearts conflicted between survival and a more painless existence.
The sky had grown dark above them since they had first set out to their new homeland, as announced by the "Kings and Queen of the Koopas" as they were now called. The storm was rushing right towards them, straight from the western Koopa Crags, their current destination. At the front of the long envoy, a large tank came to a halt at sight of the incoming weather. Opening the porthole, Morton Koopa Jr. climbed out and looked at the sky with a somewhat worried expression. He could not leave anything to chance now. The Great Destroyer had only begun to ravage the lands below it, and Morton knew that they would not be able to afford looking the other way for much longer. He only wished a few of his siblings saw the same way.
Looking behind him, he watched the long caravan halt like a caterpillar as he took out his binoculars to find the Koopa he was looking for. Spotting his vehicle well outside his vocal range, Morton put his binoculars away and grabbed his CB radio nearby.
"Delta 5, this is Alpha 9, over." he said. Nothing was heard for a moment.
"This is Delta 5, please proceed." came the response, a cultured tone synonymous with King Ludwig Von Koopa.
"The monster is throwing us a storm." relayed Morton. "I suggest doing a radar sweep ahead of us."
Farther down the convoy inside of a more futuristic and luxurious vehicle, King Ludwig scratched his chin in thought, peeking at the many small displays in front of him. Besides the Earthquakes, the weather had not gotten quite bad yet for the area, although the morning frost from the day before was not lost on him. He could see super-cells beginning to form just ahead of the crags, but he was no meteorologist; predicting their severity was not Ludwig's forte. But one thing was for sure: thunderstorms were not the typical weather found around the kingdom, which resembled more of a hot desert. Next to him stirred Queen Kylie, who had some trouble sitting up due to her now bigger belly. Seemingly reading his thoughts, she smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.
"You really don't have to do everything." she suggested. "Let the boys take care of it."
Ludwig sighed. While she was right, he didn't like hearing it. "I apologize dear, but I cannot help myself." he replied. "I must do everything that I can."
"Let those who know better make the call." said Kylie. "You were planning on continuing anyways, weren't you?"
"I won't lie." was all Ludwig said as he continued to deliberate the situation. Eventually he hummed and took hold of his radio. "Theta 7," he called, "What does the upper atmosphere currently show?"
"Hi Ludwig," came Lemmy Koopa's response, not caring for radio jargon. Flying above the lower cloud layers inside the ancient ship he discovered not too long ago, he could clearly see the storm clouds ahead of him, their large white tops reaching up into space. From his perspective, this was not normal weather. These were thunderstorm clouds, something he had never seen above the Koopa Kingdom in his life.
"Yeah, these are thunderstorms." Lemmy relayed. "Pretty big ones, with the big fluffy tops. Oh shit, I just saw lightning in one of them."
"So I have surmised." said Ludwig. "My thanks." Ludwig turned to a different frequency. "I will require your expertise on the current weather. What is your analysis?"
"Super-cell storms have formed off the western basin." came the reply. "Fueled by a warm front that is somehow extending its reach all the way up here. But my main concern is is the rotation some of these cells are showing."
"Rotation?" echoed Ludwig. Back at the front of the convoy, the wind began to increase dramatically, a moist air reminiscent of the tropics. Morton saw the dark line of clouds headed toward him, but his eyes were on a section that seemed to be extending towards the ground. "If that's what I think it is, then we need to move."
"Hm?" came Ludwig's reply, and Morton simply rolled his eyes. And he thought he was thick headed.
"It's a tornado, a twister." Morton explained. "Yeah, never happened in this kingdom before and I don't know how the hell its staying alive, but here it is."
Ludwig rubbed his forehead. "My apologies, my person is being rather sloth currently. I remember them rolling across the Mushroom Plains in my youth and they are not to be underestimated. A detoured route would now be most effective, though I understand that few pathways have been cleared of hubris."
The tornado touched the ground, just outside of the urban center to their southwest. Churning up debris, it seemed to be headed straight towards them.
"Keep moving forward?" suggested Morton. But Ludwig knew the decision wasn't as easy as Morton presumed it to be. Most of the inner city streets were still congested with debris. Breaking up the caravan in all directions may be futile, as not all vehicles were capable of climbing the rubble on their own. There was the idea of relocating those in lighter vehicles into the heavier artillery, but that would take too long of a time, not to mention the tanks eating up most of the fuel supply due to the increased weight. Either away, Ludwig knew they were sitting ducks unless something was done, and fast.
"I'm seeing a lot of spinning clouds up here." Lemmy relayed with a worried tone. This seemed to propel Ludwig to action, finally making up his mind. He shifted his radio frequency to Channel 11, the common station for the military.
"Too all commanders of artillery." Ludwig began. "This is the King. Inclement weather approaches, and precautions must be taken to ensure the survival of the exodus. To all those individuals responsible for the clearing of debris, take the nearest street along with a group of vehicles no less than five at a time. Using your fine judgement, travel in a westerly direction as the weather permits, reporting to your highest officer on board. This is the best strategy for surviving what appears to be a tornado, which is currently moving towards our position." Even as he said this, more funnel clouds were seen descending from the sky and those who saw them already got the hint. The company began to break up, turning onto side streets with tanks hoisting large plows leading the way.
"As always, betrayal in my company is forbidden, punishable by death." Ludwig reminded them. "But of course, this only applies to those serving under my administration. Citizens are free to come and go as they wish. Upon reaching the pass, report to Gamma 7 who shall direct your inquiries. God speed." With that, he switched the frequency to Channel 7. "Commander Rapport, please lead my company through the nearest northerly crossroad and head towards the pass in this manner."
"Sir!" came the reply, and after switching to Channel 13 Ludwig finally laid back and relaxed, mostly certain he did the right thing.
"I don't even remember the last time I saw a Tornado." commented Kylie. "Maybe I've been here for too long."
"The now former Koopa Kingdom was not subject to much severe weather," said Ludwig. "The crevasses that vent the magma flows often kept congested cloud formation away from this vicinity, excluding pyroclastic cloud of course. The crags also prevent moisture from the Koopai region from flowing into the area. Hence, the region is a vast rocky desert with little water, which had been an ongoing problem for most residents. Funny, as ice accumulates upon much of the surrounding mountainous region."
"I never saw it rain here, now that you mention it." commented Kylie.
"It is a rare sight indeed." said Ludwig. "And any cloud formation that does not dissipate simply produces silent lightnings with little else before moving on. If these are true thunderstorms ahead of us, then the weather of the world is indeed changing."
As if on cue, raindrops were heard falling on their roof, soon accompanied by louder clangs.
"Speak of the devil." Ludwig muttered.
"Is that hail?" Kylie asked.
"Yes, your highness." came the voice of their driver.
"Can I see?"
But Ludwig stopped her. "Let me reorient a monitor." Ludwig sat up and twirled one his outer cameras to the roof of their metallic vehicle. Hail the size of golf balls were seen pounding it and the surrounding vicinity.
"Wow, that's a sign." Kylie said half to herself. "I'm glad we're getting out of here, though I sort of miss this place already."
"Not to mention the damage that will be sustained." Ludwig muttered. That reminded him of Morton, and he forced himself to sit up again.
"Alpha 9, come in." he relayed. There was silence. No response came.
"Alpha 9, respond." Again there was nothing. Ludwig did not know that his calls were being drowned out by the pouring rain, the wind and the howling of Morton's tank as Morton peered out of the porthole trying to think of a way out of his circumstance. While the original Tornado was long moved past him, another had formed to his northeast and was moving towards him on a parallel path, Debris had already begun to fall from the high winds, littering roads previously cleared. For some reason, his driver began to slow down.
"What are you doing?" Morton shouted at his driver, thinking him insane.
"Dude, that thing is headed right towards us!" he cried back, but Morton swore to himself. He climbed back down into the cockpit and pulled the driver from his seat.
"You don't just stop and die, you fucking go!" Morton put the pedal to the metal and zoomed off straight towards the oncoming twister. The remains of the standing skyscrapers began to teeter back and forth, tossing more debris in his path.
"You guys behind me, I'm detouring to the left!" Morton announced on his radio.
"There's another tornado forming down that way!" came the response, and Morton tossed the radio behind him in frustration. "Fucking great. Then let's just steamroll through this shit, why don't we?" He didn't have much of a choice now, save for turning around and that was not his style. The tornado to his right came closer, traveling on a steady course to the East. The winds picked up dramatically, and loose debris began to fly by the tank.
"Close the hatch!" Morton ordered his driver, "Oh and get my radio." The skyscraper to his right suddenly leaned forward and then crumbled to the left, immediately prompting Morton to veer to the left, avoiding falling stonework that crumbled to the road on his right. The building looked ready to split in half.
His former driver handed him the radio. "Drive as fast as you fucking can!" Morton ordered, well aware the building could fall onto the road at any second. Another building, a one story line of shops suddenly exploded in flames and Morton had to veer back to the right. His line of sight became increasingly clouded by rain and debris, not to mention the funnel of the tornado that was virtually right next to him.
"Hey Lemmy!" Morton called into his radio. "I need another pair of eyes. Where are these tornado's going?"
"Uhm..." Lemmy squinted and tried to follow the slow movement of the twisters. Poor Lemmy could not do much else, being above cloud line without any weather equipment and already near the opening to the Koopahari pass. But after thinking for moment, he pressed a button next to him and a grid of the local topography came into view on his large display, overlaying the cloud layer. "Oh, that helps. There's a twister right next to you."
"I know!" Morton shouted.
"Okay then. There's another one headed to you, but I think you're going fast enough to outrun it."
An explosion was what Lemmy heard in response along with crunching noises. "Yeah, that was the other one." Morton shouted back. "I'm going straight to the pass and will wait there. Can you see anything else in my way?"
"Twisters? No." relayed Lemmy. "There's a lot of crap on the ground and a lot of rain though."
"So nothing new. Okay, thanks." Morton's tank was crushing stone and wood underneath it, along with debris normally found inside homes and offices. While the twisters seemed to be past him, the damage it left behind wasn't. Many parts of the city now resembled a large yard of rubble, with lines of people trying to push past it all to the other side. It seemed nature had decided to throw them the punches straight after King Ludwig's announcement to the populace. But that just encouraged Morton to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. His father was dead and so was his kingdom. It was time to move on.
Eventually, Morton made it to the Koopahari pass opening, a two-lane highway that cut straight into the mountains and out of sight. Just outside of it was a large camp set upon the lower hills, with Lemmy's star flag raised. It appeared that Lemmy intended to go no further that day and Morton didn't really blame him.
He pulled up on the slopes of a vacant hill and shut off the tank. The line behind him got the hint and stopped in the surrounding area. His former driver seemed eager to get out and for a moment Morton considered stopping him. But after seeing him skimp out and run across the hill to the north, he realized that would have been futile. His day was hardly over.
Morton climbed through the port hole, shutting and locking it before jumping down from the tank. He made his way to Lemmy's camp, but saw several others rushing towards him, each shouting something frantic.
"Hey! I got a call from one of the groups down there." said one. "They're stuck, I guess they're blocked by debris from those tornado's."
"Yeah, I got one too." said another. "Nothing we could do then though."
"Well, we could help now." said yet another. "Has there been anything from King Ludwig?"
"No, so here's what we're doing." said Morton. "If you're in my company...you, you and you, head out there and see what you can do. Bring one or two empty jeeps each, but no more than that. We're on rations, remember? Rest of us need to set up camp. Leave room for King Ludwig on the other side, I'll try and get a hold of him."
"Well, there's a plan." one of them remarked and the rest scattered in various directions. Morton took the radio from his belt. "Delta 5, come in." he relayed, There was no response. Looking out across the kingdom, he could see the tornado's continue to march eastward across the rocky outcrops into the inner city, though the worst of it having passed from his location. For a moment, Morton wondered about Roy who had decided to stay behind in King John's castle, but he had too much on his hands at the moment to do much else.
"Delta 5, this is Alpha 9. Come in." Morton relayed again, impatiently tapping his foot. It wouldn't have surprised him if Ludwig got caught in the rubble. Then again, he was no Bowser and no one would be ever again.
"A Koopa like the rest of us, huh?" Morton muttered under his breath. "Theta 7. This is Alpha 9. Come in."
"Roger roger. What's up?" came Lemmy's voice.
"Big Wig's MIA." said Morton.
"You see? I told you I had a bad feeling about this whole thing!" Lemmy complained.
"Yeah well, we can't stop it now." said Morton. "We gotta keep going. So as my new commander in chief, do you approve of camping here for tonight? I assume that's what you had in mind."
"That was, yeah." responded Lemmy. "And go through the mountains in the morning. We;re going to have supper soon over here if you guys don't want to waste your food."
"I'll take you up on that offer." Morton said, unable to say no to free food. "Hey, did you send out any guys out for-"
"Yeah, there's a few of my guys out there." said Lemmy. "I don't know if splitting up like that was a good idea. It would have been better to just stick together instead of driving all over the place."
"I get what he did." said Morton. "But we might lose time for this. Well, whatever. If everyone gets here in one piece, that's what matters." With that, Morton put his radio away and made his way over to Lemmy's encampment for that evening's supper, thankful for free food.
Within the halls of Genlic people went to and fro, all with a sense of purpose as to their duty. Each one at least seemed to know of their purpose: some carried supplies, others had carts full of them. Short lines remained in queue for the light elevators that transported them to their proper levels, much of them headed towards the agricultural sectors below the ground level. Each of them worked their part of the job to stay within the fortress. Their effects were awarded with a share of the food and a place to rest. The work put in comes back to them.
Larry sighed, leaning against a railing overlooking the ground level from above. They were bees, but each had a similar dream of self sustainability. He had that dream also, but what has he done to earn his position?
"Thats it." he muttered. There was a reason why he was being excluded from the latest council meetings. Well, not so much excluded as ignored. His presence was no longer required, and the council he set up seemed to have a mind of its own. At first thought, Larry could shrug it off to his job as the Blood King, helping the Koopa Kingdom pack up and migrate to their new location. But upon seeing those people during the announcement the day prior and his latest "antagonism" as Ludwig called it, there was more to this problem than he thought. People were heading in different directions and he felt it. What disturbed him was that Iggy was saying nothing about it. He probably feared his reaction, but regardless Larry had figured it out himself. People were polarizing, from apathy to selflessness or selfishness. Wendy seemed to be a case in point. Granted she was always obsessed about herself, but her point of view seemed to have hardened to a sole focus on herself. She did not give a care about anyone else. The people that moved below him were of a completely different mindset. This was mutual cooperation, each playing a part to sustain the whole. Then you had all the people in between, those whose lives became harder everyday due to the Earth changes. Were they being forced to make a decision?
What was causing all of this? If this was spiritual in origin, then it had nothing to do with the Destroyer. Larry knew that he had more questions than answers as far as that went. Iggy was silent on a lot of this. Perhaps he thought that people were not ready yet. Regardless, it seemed that he was going to have to find the answers himself.
Larry inhaled, trying not to think of his own problems. They were on the edge of his mind, and he knew he had to focus on the people in front of him if they were to be resolved. What happened that night could not happen again. He needed to not just be the head of all this, but to be a part of it all. It was one thing to see his dream come true, but it was another to live in that dream. He hadn't been living in it, and that needed to change.
Larry walked towards one of the light elevators, which brought him down to the ground level. He walked into the crowds as if he were one of them. Due to his height people took notice, giving him glances as he walked past them. Thankfully, they didn't stop what they were doing but Larry felt awkward, realizing how out of touch he had become. It was his selfishness, his fear of being hurt but Larry forced himself to think positively. He had to learn how to work inside of the dream he created.
Wading through the crowds, Larry made his way to one of the larger light elevators, undeniably made for beings of larger stature. The people surrounding him simply made room for him without a fuss, like he was simple one of them. Larry felt awkward as the elevator descended down into the agricultural floors of Genlic. He had anticipated a cold reception thus far but judging from the looks on their faces, this did not seem to be the case.
The elevator stopped: it was an agricultural level that grew a variety of mushrooms. Despite the subterranean location of the farm, the level was well lit with many LED lamps shining down from above, casting a pale white over everything. Intermixed were the yellow sun lamps that sat just above each row, imitating the real thing. Rows of mushrooms were tended by workers that numbered close to 100, the maximum capacity for such a work force. A line of workers with wheelbarrows filled with mushrooms waited for them along the side of the wall: a harvesting party.
With the rest of the crowd, Larry walked off the elevator and into the plantation. He meandered into one of the rows, watching the workers pluck the mushrooms from the ground. It reminded him of his own gardening skills, something he wished to employ with greater awareness. They had employed his hydroponics idea, feeding the rows of mushrooms with water piped underneath the fortress. However, he noticed the mushrooms were a bit smaller than they could have been.
'Excuse me," Larry said to a worker in front of him, "Have these mushrooms always been this small?"
"Well sir, you know we don't add preservatives to our stock." he said, a Koopa Troopa with light blue jean shorts. "Or add fertilizers that ain't natural. What you see is what we've been getting since we started planting these."
"Well, this is the normal method." explained Larry. "But there's a way to make them about one third bigger than that. It depends on a lot of things." He looked at the sun lamps above, soon realizing he would have to check the electrical control room to see their intensity.
"Hey, aren't you one of the board members?" asked the Koopa Troopa.
Larry sighed. "I am, but I'm just getting back into the swing of things. They don't know about this method, clearly. Well, thank you for your time."
"My pleasure, anything to help." said the Koopa Troopa as Larry walked across the plantation and towards another elevator. And that's how his day went: hunting down the members of the board to discuss his idea for a bigger mushroom yield by increasing unit volume, and and implementing the method before having to rewrite harvesting procedures for the workers. It was a day he did not expect as nobody seemed angry at him for being gone for so long due to his troubles with the kingdom northwest of him. They had gotten along fine without him.
That's right, he wasn't really needed, was he?
Dinner soon arrived, and work came to a close as people rushed to the handful of levels designed for eating. They had congregated themselves en mass within those floors and opened up a variety of eateries on their own time. To these the flocks rushed, wanting to savior the creative mixtures of the harvest just days past by the hands of cooks and artists. The place was an echoing ruckus; Larry was simply another one of the herd looking for his daily share. Maneuvering through the crowd, he scanned the line of vendors along the walls, trying to decide what to eat. One vendor stood out, not only for it's long line but for what it offered: pizza.
Dubbed "Mona's Pizza," it seemed that Mona stayed true to her word and had opened up a pizza shop in the eatery, becoming one of the more popular establishments. Larry ended up waiting for longer than he anticipated, but he almost didn't notice the time pass as he was still lost in his own mind.
"Next!" Larry looked up and suddenly saw he was next. Time was indeed flying by.
"Wow, the big Koopa himself is here!" cheered Mona. "How about I get you the house special?"
"Nah, that's okay." said Larry. "I'll just be like everybody else. 3 slices of Mushroom pizza please."
"Alright, but I don't want you to pay a coin." Mona said and Larry reluctantly nodded his head. Quickly cutting him 3 slices, she put them on a paper plate and smiled. "We're recycling those too, by the way. Thank you for stopping by!" Larry forced a smile before walking off, leaving the woman with a puzzled expression.
He already had his eating spot made up, but it took him a few minutes to reach using the light elevators. Within the upper levels classified as being his domain was the perfect spot to watch the sun set across the ocean. Reached by a type of circular elevator similar to the one used during his initiation, it was a seemingly gaping hole in the black walls of Genlic, with two large seats protruding from the floor below. Larry took the left seat and immediately munched on his pizza, having waited long enough for it. For once, his thoughts were silenced: the pizza was that good. It was a break from worry and he was not about to lose it. Because of this, he was unaware of the entity staring at him from inside the too his right. It was only when it stepped out onto the floor did Larry immediately look up, before relaxing.
"Hello...Larry." said Ashley, now a transparent image of her previous incarnation. This was the first time Larry had seen her walk out of the walls of Genlic.
"What's going on, Ashley?" Larry asked, eating his pizza again. But Ashley did not respond, instead looking out over the sea towards the setting sun, now glowing orange and casting its rays over the water. At length, she eyed her former lover chowing on his pizza crust like an animal. That's right, we were all animals at one point, weren't we?
Ashley sat down on the seat next to him, her glare lost in the water. "I'm running out of time." she said.
"With what?" asked Larry, finishing his last piece of crust.
"Here. I must start my next incarnation soon." stated Ashley. Larry stopped eating and looked at her. "The spirits are calling me. I must let you go."
Larry felt something inside of him then, something he realized he had long denied. "You know, I wish I had done...more with you."
"So do I." said Ashley. "I still linger because I regret...not saying how much I loved you."
Larry nodded. "I...am a coward, Ashley." he struggled to say. "That's why I never told you. I love you, and I mean it. I meant everything."
"Larry, risk getting hurt." Ashley said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"It is far better to risk getting hurt then to be afraid and regret what you could have done. You loved me, but you were hard to open."
Larry looked on in silence.
"Don't regret me." she continued. "I want you to be happy. Find someone and don't let me hold you back."
"...we have to let go of each other so we can both be happy." Larry said, finally understanding.
"Yes..." Ashley put on a rare smile. "I can't thank you enough, by the way..."
"It was what you wanted, so I incinerated it." said Larry. "Nothing is left of your body but ash."
"My existence here has been wiped clean." said Ashley. "Good."
Larry looked down at his plate. "And now I mean it. I'm sorry..." But when he looked up, the seat was empty as if no one had been there.
"...for being a coward." he finished to himself. The sun glowed a bright red as it continued to descend towards the horizon, illuminating his space with a fiery glow. Larry put his hand on his forehead and sighed, finally losing what he long denied could be lost.
"Goodbye, Ashley." Absorbed in himself, time became lost as a flood of thoughts and feelings rushed past him. All of those worries and regrets broke over his dam of self control, a new perception taking shape in his mind. Ashley was right. Too much time was wasted in worry and regret. He needed to live his life, not relive his past. But how could that be done without getting hurt?
He opened his eyes and saw another pair of scaly feet in front of him. Looking up, he saw an immense Koopa King with decorated horns and dressed in leather surrounding various colors of body paint. He guessed him to be one of the Blood Kings from upstairs, but why would he be here and why now?
The Koopa spoke something in his native language, and with a grunt walked past him towards the hallway. Looking behind him, Larry saw a line of similarly dressed Koopas, though shorter in stature moving left to right across the hall. Surmising that the kings were trying to show him something, Larry got up from his seat and walked towards the line. As he got closer, it became clear that the people were transparent. Indeed, this was a vision that one of the Blood Kings wanted to show.
Larry walked down with them, growing suspicious as to their intent. The normally darkened hallways were instead illuminated with the red light of the sun, and around a corner he saw the outside, filled with huts and dancing folk. A humid air blew over him and Larry winced, trying to take in the full view. The climate was much more arid and he guessed that Genlic must have been inside the tropical zone in the past, given the rocky climate it contained during the present day. It had been forecasted for Genlic to move into such a climate again after the pole shift. Surely this had something to do with it.
But he had thought too long: the ancient Blood King was gone. Larry rounded a curve and attempted to retrace his steps, moving past other tribal Koopa's who didn't seem to take notice of him. He reached a small theater with the back wall open to the outside, and a large red sun that beamed its light in. He was on a level above the greater audience, where many below sat and played a variety of instruments of crude design. Others sang along in the same language from before, but Larry's mind as not on the song. He knew where he was in regards to Genlic. He was facing the eastern plain that stretched into the distance, a sight that looked somewhat familiar here. What was not familiar was the sun, which he could clearly see lowering in the eastern sky in front of him. Did that mean Genlic had turned 180 degrees, and was essentially upside down?
His thoughts were interrupted by a cry, which ceased the song making. From the right came the Blood King, standing over the others and giving a speech in his own tongue. Stopping, he suddenly looked at Larry and smirked, with the latter folding his arms and shifting his weight. He still had no idea what this guy's intent was.
With a short spoken order, another being entered from the left: a Blood Queen. Larry inhaled and finally knew where this was going, or so he thought. The King and Queen came together and joined hands, and those sitting immediately stood at the action, looking at their leaders with respectful faces. The two exchanged a short conversation, both looking glad about something.
"Easier said than done." Larry muttered to himself. "These aren't the ancient days anymore." The Blood Queen looked at him with a wondrous face, then turned to her mate and said a few words. Turning to Larry, both monarchs raised the Blood Wand, split into its polarities and emitted a light at their tips: one fuchsia and one blue. The colors beamed toward the sun behind them, twirling between each other. They were joined by other pairs of colors, six in all that circled around the sun. The sun grew brighter, a white light growing in the center that soon engulfed the entire sight of Larry's vision.
When he blinked, the Blood King and Queen were gone and so were all the tribal people. The sun had disappeared, replaced with a night sky carrying echoes of thunder. Below him were another gathering of people, some playing instruments, some singing along while others enjoyed the atmosphere. 9-volt had his keyboard rigged to a small amplifier and had started the equivalent of a jam band. Others cheered them along, especially Bombette who looked quite cheerful.
But Larry had not moved, still staring out into the darkness with folded arms. He was scared, yet they had it. What did they risk? Everything, for understanding. After all, the unknown breeds fear and insecurity. He knew what that was like, always did. But he couldn't let the unknown control him any longer. He needed to see the other side: understanding.
He regained control of his body through sheer willpower and managed to unfold his arms and begin walking again, towards the left. He walked along a hallway and up a long ramp which led into a room he saw nearly every morning: the conference room. Now it was dark and unlit, save for a flicker of lightning signaling an approaching storm. Larry knew that this was no weather of Genlic, which had rapid and thick streaks of lightning. Neither was the region susceptible to rain, being a temperate desert. It was all undeniably the wobble the world was going through, trying to realign itself back to the sun while the Great Destroyer told it otherwise. At least that's what Ludwig and his own research told him.
"Everyone is closing themselves up." came a voice, feminine. There was a silhouette of someone sitting on one of the chairs, slumped over the table. "What the hell am I going to do? No one's really alive, they just exist. They're just walking bodies."
Larry said nothing, slowly coming to the realization that he was not in this alone. Gathering himself, he moved to the end of the long table and sat in its seat, folding his hands in front of him.
"Tools." she said. "Why are people such tools?"
"They were made that way, frankly." said Larry. She looked up and Larry saw it was Mona. It definitely did sound like her. "That wasn't the original intent," he continued. "But slaves are fearful of anything they cannot understand."
"Those people are not slaves." she said. "So why do they act like them?"
Larry couldn't say anything. He had only begun to re-immerse himself in the daily life.
"I try so hard to open them up, but all they have are those fake smiles." Mona muttered. "I-"
"They are hurting already." said Larry, realizing why they had never payed any attention to him. "And the shift's not even in full swing yet."
"What can I do?" Mona asked, finally looking at him, but in the near darkness little of her could be made out. Mona's interests went unrequited, a painful result which after months of burial had seemingly burst out in tears. It seemed the expression of true emotion was forbidden during the last days. What was a darkened face, but another being simply existing? What happened to light in people's faces? Hidden no doubt, but to Larry not forgotten. He wanted to do something, but didn't know what.
But after another flash of lightning, something hit him then, a gut feeling. Sometimes, the solution to a complicated problem was simple.
"I can't deal with this shit..." Mona whispered to herself. At that, Larry got up and walked to the windows behind her, staring out over the vast rocky desert to his east, Lightning was flashing across the landscape with a few droplets falling to the ground.
"What am I going to do?" Mona asked aloud.
"Want a hug?" Larry offered. Mona sighed to herself and got up. "Yeah...I need one." They embraced and she hugged him tightly, glad to finally have some comfort.
"I'm so sick of-"
"Sh, stop complaining." said Larry. "You're in one of the best shelters in the world. It could be a lot worse. Even then, people are not going to be perfect in a crumbling world, even in this place. You have to keep your head up."
Mona smiled, unable to let go. "You know, I need someone to hold onto...can I stay with you tonight?"
Larry immediately raised his brows but Mona laughed at the sight. "I didn't mean it like that! I just need someone to hold onto."
"I was going to say I'm not accepting a princess right now." said Larry.
"Good, cause I'm nothing like one. I'm more broken than that."
"So you need an oversized teddy bear." Larry said.
"So? That could be cute." said Mona. "You know, I'm going to get you one now."
"I still have my childhood blankie." Larry confessed.
"Oh, he confessed!" Mona remarked. "Do you still use it?"
"No, and you can';t make me." said a defiant Larry.
"That's okay, you can hold onto me." The two held onto each other in silence for more than a few moments, until Larry's stomach started to growl. Evidently, the pizza he had wasn't enough.
Let's get some supper." he suggested.
"I already gave you yours." Mona pointed out. "It wasn't enough?"
"Plus you deserve it more than me." nodded Larry. "And I need some real meat."
"Carnivore." Mona looked at her watch. "We should probably head down there before people hit their sacks. If we're lucky, we can snag a good meal."
"We're been lucky so far." said Larry. But that's all he could say as they made their way back to the food court. They have been very lucky so far.